We had a number of extras and mods to our boat - the fun of having a new boat though they all add up!
Autopilot (Autohelm) and chart plotter (B&G) with depth are the most used electronics and work very well - we have a fixed VHF and handheld (this is probably all we need). And an electric water ballast pump that Swallow installed by mistake - but we are very grateful for. Power is sourced from a couple of lead acid batteries charged from the 2 x 20W solar panels, occasionally topped up by a shore power charger we fitted. This is fine - unless there are lots of phones to charge as well, when power consumption takes a little managing (we are thinking of changing to lithium batteries so you can plug in a laptop, but still put off by the cost).
With the sails: we have 2:1 with the jib sheets - which makes sheeting in much easier - lead to Allen cleats (changed from the Selden ones that always slipped). We asked Hyde for a thicker than standard jib luff wire - this turns the head of the sail better in strong headwinds. We also changed to a stainless cleat for the jib furler and had a stainless strip added on the top of the cockpit coaming to stop the furler line cutting into it. We don’t have self-tailers - these might have been marginally better as we normally leave the halyards cleated on the winches to stop any slippage. We have a D-ring on the cockpit sole rather than the bridge deck, so the mainsheet can be centre sheeted - this is good if you need to release the main in a hurry - as with Corvus we unclip and move to the back when not sailing. The asymmetric works really well and is easy to set and retrieve from the cockpit, so we have not considered a furler.
We went for a Tohatsu 9.8 hp outboard - not 100% sure if this is necessary but good to know we have the extra power in reserve - this has come in useful a couple of times (and it is also quieter than the 6hp). For the tender - the Superlight Twin Air 230 3D fits beautifully in the starboard cockpit locker and is really light to handle.
Down below - we have the lifting floorboards and infill cushions making the saloon berths wider and more comfortable (the younger generation have had 5 sleeping below…), the watertight access hatches under the saloon berths which are great for storing rarely used but essential supplies, spares, etc and Matt made the panel at the front of the fore peak smaller (ie the gap in the middle wider) so it will accommodate 2 pairs of feet when sleeping there. For the icebox - we have a Coleman 36 Quart XTreme which fits very neatly under the hatch (we cut an insert into the locker lid for it to fit into).
The hull was coppercoated which works ok - there is still some buildup of weed on the waterline after lying a few months in the Hamble river (a challenging environment for any antifouling), all the wood is Utile including the tiller (we sanded this back after 4 seasons - re-oiled and back like new now) and the topsides are a non Swallow standard British racing green.
Most days we acknowledge at least one “lovely boat” - on the last day this year we had two and an offer to buy!
Let us know if you would like to go through any of these in more detail.
